The trial of a former NYPD officer accused of assaulting two men inside Manhattan Central Booking is coming to an end, and the jury will soon have to weigh a complex legal question: When does a police officer’s use of force become a crime?
The case they’ll weigh is that of former NYPD officer Josue Torres, who is charged with two counts of assault in Manhattan Supreme Court. Over the past week, the jurors have viewed videos of Torres punching and kneeing a man he and other officers attempted to restrain inside a cell at Manhattan Central Booking, the holding cell area below the courthouse that is staffed by unarmed NYPD officers.
Another video shows Torres twisting the hand of a different detainee whose wrists were cuffed and whose feet were shackled. The man suffered a broken thumb during the ordeal, prosecutors have said…